Online child exploitation spiked during lockdowns. Police worry it’s here to stay

VANCOUVER — Online predators are becoming increasingly resourceful in trolling media platforms where children gravitate, prompting an explosion in police case loads, said an officer who works for the RCMP Integrated Child Exploitation Unit in British Columbia.

Data show the problem spiked during COVID-19 when children began spending more time online — but rates did not wane as police anticipated after lockdowns ended.

In B.C., they soared, almost quadrupling from 2021 to 2023.

Const. Solana Pare is now warning exploitation of children is likely here to stay, as a technological race between police and predators gains momentum.

“Technology is becoming more and more available, and online platforms and social media sites are being used by children younger and younger, which provides an opportunity for predators to connect with them,” Pare said in an interview.

Police say child exploitation cases in B.C. went from about 4,600 in 2021 to 9,600 in 2022 to 15,920 reports last year.

The upwards trend is seen nationally, too. Statistics Canada says the rate of online child sexual exploitation reported to police rose by 58 per cent from 2019 to 2022, and police data show cases have continued to rise.

The RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Crime Centre reported that from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, it received 118,162 reports of suspected online child sexual exploitation offences — a 15 per cent increase compared with the previous year.

Online child sexual exploitation, Pare explained, includes offences such as sextortion, child luring and the creation or distribution of sexually explicit images of a minor.

“We don’t see these types of reports going away,” Pare said. “We only see them increasing because the use of electronic devices and social media, and kids being online earlier and earlier is becoming more common. There’s going to be more opportunity for predators to target children online.”

Monique St. Germain, general counsel for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, said the most common type of child luring is communicating with a youth online in order get them to produce sexual abuse material. She said “the pandemic accelerated those types of cases, and it hasn’t slowed down.”

“The tools (Canadian authorities) have to deal with this type of behaviour are inadequate for the scope and the scale of what’s going on,” she said.

THE RISE OF ‘SEXTORTION’

Online exploitation gained international attention in 2015 in the case of Port Coquitlam, B.C., teenager, Amanda Todd, who died by suicide after being blackmailed and harassed online by a man for years, starting when she was 12.

The month before the 15-year-old died, she uploaded a nine-minute video using a series of flash cards detailing the abuse she experienced by the stranger and how it had affected her life. It’s been viewed millions of times.

Dutch national Aydin Coban was extradited to Canada for trial and, in August 2022, he was convicted of charges including the extortion and harassment of Todd.

Since then, the term “sextortion” has made its way into the vernacular as more cases come to light.

Among them was Carson Cleland, a 12-year-old Prince George, B.C., boy who died by suicide in October 2023 after falling victim to the crime. In New Brunswick that same month, 16-year-old William Doiron took his own life after falling victim to a global sextortion scheme.

Mounties across Canada have issued news releases warning of increased cases in their communities, noting that the consequences for the victims can include self-harm and suicide.

St. Germain said technology, such as artificial intelligence, is also becoming more user-friendly.

“The existence of that technology and its ease of use and ready accessibility is a problem, and it is going to be an increasingly large problem as we move forward,” she said.

Pare said police are also adapting to technological advancements in order to keep up with the ever-changing online landscape.

“Police are constantly obtaining training on digital technologies to increase our knowledge and understanding of all the intricacies involving their use and how to capture any digital evidence,” she said.

Pare said the true rates of the crime are impossible to determine, but pointed to increased social awareness and legislation across North America around mandatory reporting of child abuse material from social media companies as a potential reason for the increase.

It’s not going undetected any longer, she said.

“Additionally, there’s been a lot of use in artificial intelligence to detect child exploitation materials within those platforms.”

Pare said “it’s up to each individual platform” to ensure there is no child sexual abuse material on their sites or apps.

“With mandatory reporting, it’s putting the onus back on the electronic service providers to ensure they have measures in place to prevent this from happening, and if it is happening that it is being reported,” she said. “That being said, there are times when things don’t get located.”

That is why the Canadian Centre for Child Protection has been advocating for the adoption of the Online Harms Bill that the federal government introduced in February, St. Germain said.

“It’s shocking that up until now, we’ve relied on companies to self regulate, meaning we’ve just relied on them to do the right thing,” she said.

“What we are seeing in terms of the number of offences and in terms of all the harm that is happening in society as a result of online platforms is completely tied to the decision not to regulate. We need to have rules in any sector, and this sector is no different.”

‘CANADA IS REALLY BEHIND’

The Online Harms Bill covers seven types of harms, from non-consensual sharing of intimate images to content that can be used to bully a child.

Earlier this month, Justice Minister Arif Virani announced the Liberal government will split the bill into two parts: dealing with keeping children safe online, and combating predators and issues related to revenge pornography.

“We are putting our emphasis and prioritization and our time and efforts on the first portion of the bill,” Virani told reporters on Dec. 5.

Such measures would include a new Digital Safety Commission of Canada, which would compel social media companies to outline how they plan to reduce the risks their platforms pose to users, particularly minors. It would have the power to levy fines and evaluate companies’ digital safety plans.

St. Germain said such a split “makes sense,” noting that most objections to the bill are related to changes to the Criminal Code and not measures around curbing harms to children.

“There obviously are differences of opinion in terms of what is the best way forward, and what kind of regulatory approach makes sense, and who should the regulator be, but there does seem to be consensus on the idea that we need to do more in terms of protecting children online,” she said, adding that the organization is still in support of the second half of the bill.

She said the United Kingdom previously passed its own Online Safety Act that will come into effect in 2025, which includes requiring social media firms to protect children from content such as self-harm material, pornography and violent content. Failure to do so will result in fines.

“Canada is really behind,” she said. “The amount of information that has come out of the U.K., the amount of time and care and attention that their legislatures have paid to this issue is really quite remarkable, and we really hope that Canada steps up and does something for Canadian children soon.”

In the absence of national legislation, province’s have filled the void.

In January, B.C. enacted the Intimate Images Protection Act, providing a path for victims to have online photos, videos or deep fakes expeditiously removed. Individuals are fined up to $500 per day and websites up to $5,000 a day if they don’t comply with orders to stop distributing images that are posted without consent.

B.C.’s Ministry of the Attorney General said that as of Dec. 11, the Civil Resolution Tribunal had received a total of 199 disputes under the Intimate Images Protection Act.

It said the Intimate Images Protection Service had served more than 240 clients impacted by the non-consensual distribution of intimate images, adding that four awards of $5,000 each and one for $3,000 had been supplied as of mid-December.

Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta and Saskatchewan have also enacted legislation targeting unauthorized distribution of intimate images.

St. Germain said the use of provincial powers is also necessary, but it’s not enough.

“A piece of provincial legislation is going to be very difficult to be effective against multiple actors in multiple countries,” she said, noting that the online crime is borderless.

“We need something bigger — more comprehensive. We need to use all tools in the tool box.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 29, 2024.

Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press